


Love At First Sight

by SecretJungle88



Category: Panic! at the Disco, The Brobecks
Genre: Christmas, Cute, Gay, M/M, christmas2017, festive, very cute, very gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-11 09:25:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12932343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretJungle88/pseuds/SecretJungle88
Summary: Could this be love at first sight, or should I walk by again?--------2017 Festive story





	1. Part One

The tale started when Brendon was at breakfast. It was a sunny December morning, still early, with the rays of the sunrise beaming over the snow that had fallen the night before, rending schools closed for the day. That’s probably why Brendon thought it was a good idea to go and get his morning meal fairly early, to beat the rush of schoolchildren celebrating the lack of lessons that day.

His favourite coffee shop was a small independent which was located around the back of a small shopping complex, with a large wooden deck that extended over a field, providing perfect views of the sunrise. He often enjoyed to sit out here in the morning, with a scarf wrapped around his neck to protect him from the early morning chills. He sat with his number on his table, his gloved hands wrapped around his warm mug of hot chocolate and his cheeks and nose rosy pink. It was moments like this that made Brendon appreciate winter all that much more.

Dallon, on the other hand, was not enjoying the freshly laid snow as much. Despite it looking like a beautiful, soft blanket as it laid across the field and the children’s play equipment, it was nowhere near as beautiful and soft when you woke up to it covering you after you’d fallen asleep on yet another park bench.

It was still a miracle how Dallon hadn’t caught hypothermia yet. He quickly leapt up and swept the ice off of him, blowing on his fingers to try and warm them up. This was by far one of the worst winter’s he’d experienced, and it was made worse by his terrible growth spurt, rendering his warm coats too small to be functional. Curse these long arms of his.

At least his local coffee shop took pity on him. They’d always let him sit by the heater in the mornings until he warmed up, or until someone needed the seat. He’d never refuse. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, right?

This morning however, thankfully, his seat was empty and the barista gave him a small smile and nod as he approached, gesturing to the seat. Dallon thanked her immensely before curling up as close to the electric heater as he could without touching it. Touching meant burns. He’d learnt that the hard way.

When it quietened down a bit, the barista walked over and placed a small cup of hot chocolate on the table beside Dallon. “Here. I figured you needed it. It got pretty cold last night.”

Dallon forced a smile onto his chapped lips and shrugged slightly. “I was asleep, so, I guess I don’t really notice…”

Her face turned to pity for a moment, but she shook it off and returned to the familiar chirpy smile. “How’s the job hunt going?”

Dallon just sighed softly. “I ran out of printer budget and the guy won’t do me any more favours and give me a couple of sheets so I have no more resumes, not that I have skills in the first place. Besides, who’s gonna hire a dude who lives on the streets?”

“Well… I’m sure lots of people would!”

Dallon shook his head and rubbed his eyes, contemplating his future. It was still hard to believe that it had been two whole years since his parents had stripped him of a place to live and a right to call them his parents. He should’ve known coming out of the closet was a bad idea. Especially to strictly religious parents. Since then it was from one shelter to the next, until he decided not to go anymore. There were more needy people than him. Children, parents, elders. He was 19 now, he could survive without a room for the night. Now that just backfired because whenever he did need a room, and others wanted one too, the lovely shelter staff asked him kindly to give his up. And stupidly, he did. Without fail, every time. And he looked like absolute crap because of it.

The barista frowned, and extended a hand to him. “Come with me. See that guy out there? His name’s Brendon, he’s a regular, and a real sweetheart. He’s jobhunting too. Maybe he can help you out with a few pointers. Plus we just invested in a new outdoor heater!”

She was so upbeat and lively that Dallon felt bad turning her down. He was only just warming up here, and how was he supposed to ask someone for help like that? That wasn’t Dallon, Dallon could cope on his own. That’s how he had survived for these 2 years. 

A young couple had entered the cafe, and the barista formed a small apologetic smile before going back to serve them. Dallon stayed by the heater, taking slow sips of his hot chocolate, smiling slightly as the warmth entered his mouth. He was so, so grateful for all the help he’d recieved here. It was almost certain to him that if he hadn’t had this place, he probably would’ve ended up quite sick or even dead.

So when the barista smiled and cocked her head towards the man sitting out on the deck, he sighed and stood up, grabbed his mug and headed outside.  
He was about to say hello and ask for a spare piece of paper, before Dallon froze.

He didn’t experience these moments very often, hardly ever during the winter when his thoughts were often preocupied. For the man sitting in front of him was absolutely gorgeous. Despite his face being covered by a scarf, he could see those eyes, and those snowflakes through his hair make Dallon’s little heart flutter.

Brendon glanced up from his phone and frowned slightly at the weird homeless dude who was staring at him. “Um… can I help you?”

“Is this love at first sight, or should I walk by again?” Dallon blurted out quickly. Dammit, that pick up line sounded so good in his head.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“You’re photogenically dressed!” Dallon scolded himself again as the conversation began to this rocky start. “Oh god, now what did I say!? Let me start over again…”

‘Alright…” Brendon murmured uncertainly.

“Could this be love at first sight? Oh wait, I said that before!” Dallon burried his face in his hands in embarrassment.

“It’s okay, take your time…” Brendon took a sip of his drink uncertainly and glanced up at the tall man in front of him. “I don’t wanna upset you, man.”

Dallon just turned and ran out of the restaurant in embarrassment.

What a strange encounter.


	2. Part Two

December only grew colder as the days went on, and Brendon didn’t mind. He never minded the cold that much, in fact, being all rugged up in his warm coat and gloves was one of his favourite things.

He’d just finished posting all his Christmas gifts to his family back in Vegas, and had finally gotten around to picking up a tree and a couple of decorations. It was his first Christmas alone, and he’d just fallen so behind on being festive. Normally he was the one begging his siblings to put the tree up, but without it just felt strange. But still, Christmas wasn’t Christmas without a tree, and he needed to put one up. So with a tree firmly under his arm and a bag of decorations in his hand, he was off to set it up with only a week until it was time to put it away.

He was almost home when he overheard a conversation from the other side of the street. The homeless shelter. He knew the owner, he was a lovely guy who did his best to help everyone. And he seemed to know the other guy as well, the weird homeless guy who had attempted to talk to him at the coffee shop a few weeks prior. He was seemingly very upset, and the owner seemed the same as well.

So Brendon walked over. “Hey, Pat, what’s up?”

The other man wiped his nose on his already dirty sleeve, before letting out a dry, hoarse cough. “I-I need a place for the night, h-happy to sleep on the floor…. It’s just too c-cold out here and I c-can’t do another night.”

Brendon turned to Patrick, who let out a long, exausted sigh. “I’m sorry, Dal, I really wanna let you in, but if I keep squeezing too many people in at night then the council gets mad and I’m already in trouble… I need to keep this place open, for everyone out there on cold nights. We have every bed filled already, families. I’m sorry, I just… can’t.”

Dallon errupted into another coughing fit, and Patrick had to help him sit on a nearby bed so he could catch his breath. Brendon was silent. Having never experienced anything like this before, he just didn’t know what to say. His family had made sure that he always had a roof over his head, food on his plate and medicine when he was sick. Dallon had   
none of that right now.

“Hey, you can come home with me. I’ve got some room to share, and I’m pretty sure someone told me that it’s bad luck to put a Christmas tree up by myself.” He extended a hand to Dallon, and smiled.

“A-Are you sure? Don’t g-go out of your way...” Dallon asked shyly, quite flustered and overwhelmed that a man this beautiful would allow him to spend a night in his probably-beautiful house.

“Yeah, of course. I don’t want anyone to stay out in this cold. I’m suprised you’ve lasted this long, to be honest.”

Dallon just shrugged glumly, before standing up and grabbing his bag off the ground beside him. “T-Thank you, thank you so much! What was your name?”

“Brendon.” Brendon smiled, extending a hand for a handshake. Dallon returned the gesture with a blush and a grin.

Patrick thanked Brendon, and he began his walk home, making sure that Dallon followed. Dallon was too flustered to say anything, and viewed even being able to walk next to this beautiful man as a privilege.

When they reached the home, Brendon shoved the key in the door and flicked the light on, before showing Dallon to the spare room. “Here, you can stay here for the night. It’s not much…. But it’s a bed and it’s warmer than out there. There’s a shower just there too, if you wanna warm up. Oh, and if you have any laundry, we can do that in the laundomat downstairs so you have some clean clothes to wear. Do you have any pyjamas?”

Dallon shyly shook his head.

“That’s alright, you can borrow some of mine.” Brendon went and fetched him a pair. “There you go. Shower and I’ll wash your clothes for you.”

Dallon went red for what felt like the billionth time today, and smiled at Brendon gratefully. “T-Thank you, so m-much… I-I’m sorry I don’t have any pyjamas, and, a-and you’re s-so nice and I-I think y-you’re really amazing and, a-and I won’t t-talk anymore, I’m sorry…”

Brendon just chuckled. “It’s alright, Dallon. Just have a shower and try and feel better, and if you’re up for it we can put up the Christmas tree!”

Dallon nodded and went to shower. It felt so good to be able to finally get a really good clean, with some proper soap and shampoo. Despite still being sick, it was almost as if he emerged from that shower a new man.

Brendon smiled at him when he came out to the lounge. “You clean up nice, dude.”

“O-Oh…” Dallon’s cheeks went a shade of pink. “You too?”

“You don’t have to be nervous, it’s okay, I’m promise. Now let’s put the tree up, we’ve only got a week ‘till Christmas and it’s gotta be done.”

Dallon and Brendon got to work, setting the tree up and hanging some ornaments, before wrestling with some tinsel, before finally adding strings of lights around to complete the look.

“Turn the lights off!” Brendon smiled, and Dallon ran to do it. When the room was dark, he switched the tree lights on, and gasped as it lit up the entire room. “I’m in love!”

So am I, Dallon thought to himself. I’m in love with you.


	3. Part Three

When Dallon woke up in the morning, Brendon was already up. He had made a beautiful breakfast for the two of them, complete with pancakes, eggs, bacon and a hot chocolate each. It truly was beautiful, and Dallon sort-of froze when he saw the table layout. He must’ve assumed that he had overstayed his welcome, that there was someone else coming for breakfast with Brendon and he needed to pack up and get out of this apartment, as soon as he could.

He was about to turn around to grab his small bag of possessions when Brendon smiled up at him. “Hey, I made us breakfast, come sit down!”

It was a beautiful feast, and the most amazing food that Dallon had eaten since his mother kicked him out 2 years ago. He made sure to tell Brendon that every two bites, just to make sure that he understood the message of how grateful he was for this exchange. Here he was, a homeless fag who had been sleeping on a park bench for two years, eating the most gorgeous breakfast in a beautiful city apartment with what he truly believed to be the most beautiful man in the room. This had to be a dream.

Brendon just laughed when Dallon pinched himself. “It’s okay Dal, honestly. I’m kinda just glad I’m not alone, to be honest. It’s my first Christmas alone, and hey, somebody is better than nobody, right? And you seem pretty cool, plus you helped me put up the most kick-ass christmas tree I’ve ever seen.” He gestured to the one in the corner.

Dallon’s cheeks went pink. “Thank you, f-for all of this, a-again, it’s so much and it’s s-so lovely and, a-and you’re so nice and, and yeah…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, wondering if he could have phrased that any worse.

Brendon just laughed. “You’ve made that clear Dal, but don’t stress, it’s all good. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, as long as you need. I hear there’s a snowstorm that’s gonna hit the town over the next few days, so I think that today is a good time to go and get the rest of the christmas shopping done, yeah? Plus, we need to go and take you to the doctor, and maybe get some medicine too. You sound a lot better since yesterday, but I really think you need some medical help…”

Dallon was awfully embarrased, and hung his head slightly. “I-I should be fine, i-it’s just a cold, you know? I-I’ve survived lots of colds before!”

“You don’t have to be embarrassed, it’s okay to see a doctor. If it’s an infection or something serious then it’s better to get it checked, right?”

“I s-suppose…” Dallon murmured shyly, his cheeks going pink again.

Brendon smiled and put an arm on his shoulder. “You’re like a little tomato, Dal. It’s adorable. Anyways, I’m gonna go shower and get ready to go. Do you have some clean clothes to wear?”

He went even redder as he shook his head slightly, further embarrassing himself in front of this beautiful man. He was so self-concious and there was nothing he could do to try and make him look like a possible partner. He was just the weird homeless guy who seemed to be a tomato.

Brendon disappeared and came back with a small pile of clothes. “Here, they might be a little small for you, just because you’re so tall, but we can get you some other stuff while we’re out. The shops have lots of sales on this time of year, anyway.”

“B-But don’t clothes cost m-money?” 

Brendon chuckled. “Yeah, but that’s okay. My treat. Early Christmas present, we’ll call it. To keep you warm so you don’t get sick again. What you were wearing yesterday was more july-wear, not december-wear.”

Dallon just sighed and nodded meekly, knowing that Brendon was right and there was no use defending himself. All his warm stuff had either been worn through or stolen, or outgrown and he’d passed it on to someone who seemed like they could use it more than him. Always the kids, seeing kids in the same position he was in always tugged at his heart strings. He deserved this life, but they didn’t, so he always tried to make sure that they were warm and safe. Well, to the best of his ability.

Brendon sensed that he’d upset the man, and his face fell slightly. “Sorry, man. I just care, okay? You don’t deserve to be in your situation. That’s not fair on you at all. So I just wanna do the best I can to help you out.”

Dallon sighed and shook his head. “B-But I do deserve it!”

Brendon’s facial features softened, and he reached for Dallon’s hand, before guiding him over to the couch to talk. “Okay, tell me what happened.”

Dallon could feel himself start to get teary, and that wasn’t okay. He furiously wiped his eyes and sighed again. “S-Sorry…”

“It’s okay Dallon, you can tell me what happened. Have you told anyone else?”

He shook his head and wiped away another tear. “I-It’s been 2 y-years now, I-I… my family loved me, b-but they didn’t love t-the way that I l-loved men and t-then they told m-me that I w-wasn’t allowed t-to live with them a-anymore and I w-wasn’t t-their son a-and they never wanted t-to see me a-again…”

It felt weird, to put it out there like that. It wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened, but it wasn’t the best, and even though Dallon had been out on the streets, he’d never really had a chance to digest what had happened. His mind had always been occupied with where his next meal was going to come from, where he was going to stay the night, and desperately trying to get a job so that he could get on his feet. He hadn’t been very successful on that part. He just sat on the beautiful man’s couch, his head in his hands as he thought about all those family events and times he’d spent with his parents and sister, and then about how he’d ruined all of it. Why did he even try to tell them? He knew they wouldn’t approve. He just didn’t expect to become homeless.

Brendon put his arm around the taller man and gently rubbed his shoulder comfortingly, thinking about if his parents had taken his de-closeting the same way. They were never too happy with it, but they told him they’d love him no matter what and still took care of him. He felt so bad for Dallon, and how he’d been treated so unfairly.

“That’s… terrible, Dal. That’s not fair on you, on anyone, it’s just stupid! I mean, sure, whatever, you don’t love girls, but hey, that doesn’t change who you are as a person!”

Dallon sniffled and looked up at Brendon. “Y-You don’t care?”

“Of course I don’t care! I’m not some homophobe! I marched in the pride rally this year!” He smiled widely and stood up from the couch. “Let’s get ready and go. I’m gonna help you, I’m gonna help you find a place to stay, and a job, and get you back on your feet and everything! I promise!”

The warm, fuzzy feeling in Dallon’s chest returned, and he smiled back through his tears. “T-Thank you, thank you Brendon…”

“It’s my pleasure Dal, now let’s get going!”

Brendon was right, his clothes were a bit tight on Dallon, and the pants left Dallon’s ankles exposed so everyone could see his green socks. Brendon just told him it was kinda cute and festive, and they’d get some new clothes shortly. Dallon didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. He was still floating on cloud nine after what Brendon had told him earlier about the pride march. Did that mean he was gay too? Was this an actual thing that he had an actual chance at? The very thought of it made him giddy.

It was all he could think about as they locked up and left his apartment, walking together, their fingertips occassionally brushing against eachother’s, which just made Dallon blush furiously, and Brendon chuckle. 

The mall was packed, but thankfully the menswear store wasn’t too full, and Dallon helped Brendon find some pants that actually went down to his feet, and a super warm coat that would help him during the rest of this bitterly cold winter. Brendon just kept handing him shirts and pants and hats and sending him to the dressing rooms to try stuff on.

“That looks so good on you Dal! Is it warm enough, do you reckon?” Brendon smiled, making Dallon spin around to show him how he looked.

“I t-think so? I hope so… it’s kinda warm under all the l-layers though…”

“That’s the idea. It’s just really warm in the mall. But that looks good! Put it in the yes pile.”

Dallon just went red again and went back into his stall. It was so weird, and foreign to have this experience, but he didn’t hate it in the slightest. Especially when Brendon told him he looked cute. That just made him all gooey inside.

When Dallon had seemingly tried on every clothing item in the store, Brendon gathered the yes pile and took it to the register, tearing the tags off the garments he was still wearing and paying for them too.

And walking out of there, wearing new clothes that made him look more like just a normal 19-year-old instead of the weird homeless guy, Dallon was on cloud nine.


	4. Part 4

Walking home from the store was a euphoric experience for Dallon, mostly because instead of his mind being preoccupied with the cold tips of his fingers, aching legs or a rumbling stomach because he hadn’t eaten in three days, he was now walking with his focus on trying to look normal. Brendon wanted a normal boyfriend, right? Obviously, there was no way he’d be with Dallon while he was still weird and homeless and just so freakin’ weird, so he was doing everything he could to be normal.

For the first time in a very, very long time he was incredibly self conscious about how he was walking and talking. He stupidly stammered every time he spoke, which just made him sound insecure, and his stupid long legs made his steps look weirdly spaced and just, weird. So he was trying to focus on Brendon’s feet as they made their way up the footpath, which helped the pace, but then it looked like he was taking tiny little baby steps and that just made the whole thing look worse, so then he tried to focus on making sure his steps were a good distance apart, and then he was walking so much faster than Brendon and this entire operation was a disaster and Dallon was spiraling and he had no idea how to fix this terrible situation.

At least Brendon didn’t seem to notice. He was more focused on some girl walking down the path towards them, before he grinned and waved at her. “Hey, Frankie!”

That snapped Dallon out of his focus on his too-long-legs, too-weird-walk thought bubble and he glanced up. Brendon embraced the girl in a one-armed hug and grinned widely. 

“How have you been?”

“Good!” She beamed. “How’s the music going B? Finished the album yet?”

“Almost! Hey, this is Dallon, he’s a friend of mine.” Brendon gestured to the taller man, nudging him slightly with his elbow to remind him to introduce himself.

“O-Oh, hi…” Dallon forced a smile and shook her hand. “How d-do you two know eachother.”

“Family friends.” Frankie smiled warmly. “I was the one who managed to help B here graduate high school.”

“I could’a done it, ya know?” Brendon laughed.

“Yeah, and I’m sure you could also lick your elbow-don’t try it!”

Brendon chuckled again and Dallon felt this strange tinge of jealously overcome him, but it was stupid. They must be friends right? Yeah, just best friends…

He had almost convinced himself of the fact until they continued on their walk and Frankie went to continue her shopping. “Wouldn’t you like to kiss her, Dal? Wouldn’t you like to dance with her? God, she’s gorgeous.”

“U-Uh...um…”

“Oh, right. Yeah, sorry. But damn, god, I love her so much. Isn’t she just so beautiful?”

Dallon was crushed. He was obviously straight, a supporter of LGBT but straight, and Dallon’s footsteps didn’t matter anymore because he clearly had no chance with the most beautiful man in the world. He should’ve known this from the start. He should’ve realised this earlier, then maybe now he wouldn’t be trying to hide his inner feelings on the walk back to Brendon’s apartment.

When they arrived, Brendon didn’t notice anything was off. He just went to the kitchen and fetched them both a glass of water, setting Dallon’s down in front of him with the bag from the pharmacy. The doctor had diagnosed a pretty bad chest infection, but had prescribed some antibiotics and that would it would clear it up.   
“Here, take these.” Brendon smiled, popping two of the pills out of the foil, before going to turn the christmas tree lights on.

Dallon glumly took his medicine before turning around to see Brendon sitting on the sofa, staring at this tree like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. “I’m in love, Dal. This tree is amazing. It’s everything to me. Doesn’t it look beautiful?”

He hesitantly nodded, not really knowing how else to respond to that.

Brendon shuffled over and patted a spot beside him on the sofa. “C’mere. Come look at this with me.”

When Dallon sat down, Brendon rested his head on the taller man’s shoulder and sighed in contentment. Dallon froze. He couldn’t ever move now. Then he’d disturb Brendon and 

Brendon was comfortable, which made little sense because Dallon was practically skin and bone, but it was still so awkward and even though he loved this embrace, he was quite confused. Didn’t Brendon love that girl that they passed on the way home?

“Only two days until Christmas Dal, can you believe it?” Brendon whispered softly, taking Dallon’s hand in his own. “Thank you for being here.”

“S-Shouldn’t I be t-thanking you?” Dallon asked in confusion.

“You’ve saved me from a Christmas alone… and that means so much to me…”

“You s-saved m-me from death?” He added awkwardly, looking down at his lap in embarrassment.

Brendon glanced up, and their eyes met for a long moment before Dallon looked away, trying to blink away the tears that were forming in his eyes. “I-I can’t d-do this, Brendon..”

“Do what, Dal?”

“T-This!” He cried. “You’re beautiful and I love you! And you make dark nights and violent things, vaudevillian girls and violin strings so beautiful! All of these are the pretiest things when I’m in love! A-And I’m in love with you, b-but you don’t love me back because y-you’re straight and, and-”

Dallon was cut off by a pair of soft lips touching his own, and a hand moving up to gently touch his hair. And in that moment, nothing else mattered except the softness of Brendon’s lips and the warm glow of the Christmas lights in the background.


	5. Part Five

For Brendon, his memories of waking up on Christmas day were the same warm memories that most children have. Waking up early and that thought flashing into your mind suddenly; it’s Christmas. Throwing your covers off and running down the hall, yelling to wake your siblings and parents up before racing down the stairs and looking at whether Santa had eaten the cookies you’d left out for him, and then the huge smiles when you realised that Santa came, and you’d been good, and now there was a beautiful stack of wrapped gifts under your Christmas tree.

Dallon’s memories were a little different, with most of his Christmas memories revolving around accompaning his family to church or sitting in the soup kitchen with all the other homeless from the city in the area. The longer Dallon thought about it, the more he realised how he probably appreciated the latter more. With his mother, he was always being scolded for not doing it right. Not wearing the nice suit right, not sitting right, not tying his shoelaces right, not praying right. Whereas with the shelter, he got to watch the kids open their gifts (They’d been donated, but they didn’t know that, and that was what mattered) and just got to be himself.  
This year, Dallon believed he had the best of both worlds. He was dry, he was safe, he had nice clothes, but he was free to wear them how he wanted. He was free to be himself, and that was the best feeling.

Brendon’s childlike Christmas joy hadn’t left him as he’d grown into a young man, and Dallon was quite alarmed when he was awoken by Brendon jumping into his bed at 7 in the morning, still dressed in his pyjamas. “DALLON! WAKE UP! IT’S CHRISTMAS!”

“W-Wha?” Dallon asked in alarm, quickly sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Christmas, Dallon! It’s Christmas day! 25 of December! Come on! Get up already!” Brendon rolled over so he was lying right beside him, almost pushing Dallon of the bed. He kept shuffling further over until Dallon got up, and then just giggled and raced back to the kitchen to make them both warm beverages.

Dallon shook his head in disbelief, before smiling and sitting down beside him before the tree caught his eye. There were wrapped gifts under there. There were tags on those presents. Those tags had Dallon’s name on them. Dallon had nothing to give back in return.

Now, that, was a reason to start to freak out. So while Brendon was cooking Breakfast, Dallon’s mind began to race with whatever the hell he had to give to Brendon in return for all his generosity. The only things he really had were the clothes that Brendon had bought him (So, no good) and his bag of personal possessions he’d had on the streets. 

Unfortunately, there was nothing useful in there except for a couple of quarters, and that was a terrible gift.

There was one thing that he had though. Music. Dallon had been writing songs for years on the streets as a creative output. Sometimes people had told him that he was good, but he had no idea honestly. Either way, that was all he had, so he was going to use it.

He’d only gotten two lines in when Brendon had raced in. “Breakfast is ready! And then we’ll do presents!”

Breakfast was delicious, as always when Brendon made it, and he just went red when Dallon complimented him on it and kissed his cheek. He’d gone out his way to make it ‘extra-festive’, and the scrambled eggs arranged to look like a Christmas tree was quite adorable.

Dallon went quiet when Brendon hurried excitedly to the tree and handed him a box. “Open this one first!”

“I-I-”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t… I don’t have anything for you…”

“I don’t want anything in return. Christmas gifts aren’t exchanges, they’re about giving back to the people you love. And I love you, and this is just a small token of that, okay?”  
“But I l-love you and I don’t have anything to give back!”

“Dal, please don’t get upset…” Brendon sat down on the couch and put an arm around him. “It’s the thought that counts, honestly, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Dallon looked at Brendon’s disappointed face, and slowly brought the gift into his hands, taking the paper off and opening the box inside to reveal a red Christmas sweater. He   
pulled it on straight away, and smiled. “T-Thanks, B.”

Brendon just giggled and tore the paper off another box, before pulling on the same sweater but in green. “We match!”

That just made Dallon laugh. “We do, we do.”

It was a sort-of relief that most of the gifts under the tree were for Brendon from his family and his friends, but Dallon had been given a couple of cute gifts that he appreciated, like a warm hat, new backpack and a box of nice chocolates to eat.

When Brendon went outside to make phone calls to his family to thank them for the gifts, Dallon ran back to his notebook and continued writing. It didn’t take him long to finish the lyrics, he tried not to make it too complicated, and when he was just finishing it off, he remembered Brendon’s music room and ran to find a bass guitar. He’d had a few lessons from a cousin as a child, that was all, but if he could put some sound to these lyrics it was gonna make an amazing Christmas present.

Dallon had never been more thankful for long phone calls in his life.

The rest of the day was spent with Brendon, except for when Brendon got a phone call, and then it was back to working on his song. By the time dinner had ended, Dallon decided it was time to present.

“I-I have something for you…”

“Hmm?”

“For christmas. I have a present for you…”

Brendon’s face lit up like the sun, and Dallon went red as he grabbed his song book and the bass guitar. “T-This is a song, I wrote it about us…”

“Dallon, that’s amazing!”

“It’s not very g-good…”

“Pssht. It’s gotta be amazing, I know it.”

Dallon hesitantly took his hand, and led him out onto the balcony where the white snow was falling. “A-are you ready?”

Brendon grinned eagerly and nodded.

So Dallon started to sing. “Could this be love at first sight, or should I walk by again? You’re photogenically dressed, the conversation begins. Oh god, now what did I say? Let me   
start over again. Could this be love at first sight, oh wait I said that before. I need a place for the night, happy to sleep on the floor. But don't go out of your way and I won't talk anymore. Turn the lights off, I'm in love. Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, kiss her? Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to, dance with her? Darkened nights and violent things, vaudevillian girls and violin strings. All of these are the prettiest things when I'm in love. Turn the lights off, I'm falling in love with you.”

And in that moment, when the song was sung, and the music was still floating through the air as the final chord rang out, Brendon stood up and took Dallon’s hands, before they started dancing. Dancing together on the balcony in the snow, looking into each other’s eyes and enjoying the moment together as they stepped backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards, hoping that the night would never end.


End file.
